By Samantha Jones-
Britons are being urged to to open their homes to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion under a new scheme. Prime minister, Boris Johnson, told Sky News’ Beth Rigby Interviews programme the UK would be “generous” to those fleeing Ukraine, and details of this second visa scheme – where individuals, charities, businesses and community groups will be able to offer rooms to those escaping the conflict – would be announced next week.
The prime minister said: “On Monday, you’ll get from the levelling up secretary, you’ll get the programme that will allow people to come in, so if people want to welcome refugees into their own homes, they can do so.”
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Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove(pictured) will set out details of a new “sponsored” humanitarian route to allow Ukrainians without family links to the UK to come to the country. It will include a hotline and webpage where individuals, charities, businesses and community groups will be able to offer rooms to those escaping the conflict.
Charity creative support groups will be necessary to support the success of the programme, and the scheme will require liaising with schools in the UK to prepare for accepting children from an entirely different culture, and who may be traumatised by the war.
British ministers held a cross-departmental meeting last night to thrash out the details of the scheme, but it is understood some questions remain unresolved.
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Refugees who enter through the new route are expected to be allowed to stay for an initial period of 12 months during which they will be entitled to work, but details around which benefits and public services they would have access to are still under discussion.
Officials will match them with offers of free accommodation from the sponsoring individuals and organisations.
Charities, local councils and churches will be among the community groups who can sponsor Ukrainian refugees as part of the new humanitarian visa route, but despite a key ministerial meeting being held last night, some details remain unresolved.
UK families hoping to put people up in their homes will need to be DBS checked. “You can’t just put people up in homes where there has not been any safeguarding assessment when we are dealing with vulnerable women and children”, is the message from officials.
Then there is the question of what support they will be given. If Ukrainians travelling here from a safe country are designated as refugees, they would be eligible for different benefits than if they were given residency.
At least four government departments are involved in devising the scheme – the Treasury, DWP, Home Office and Levelling Up. Afghan families who were evacuated in the summer are in many cases still living in hotels.
Another area which is understood to be causing concern in government is the question of how a streamlined process for Ukrainian refugees could be seen as unfair when there are many Afghan refugees still waiting for proper housing and support.
Michael Gove will be expected to have an answer for all of these questions on Monday, but Labour claims the government have not acted fast enough.
They will be vetted to ensure the accommodation is safe and secure – and will have to agree to take the refugees for a minimum period – understood to be between three and six months – and demonstrate that they meet appropriate standards.
Technology minister Chris Philp said the details of plans will be set out “in the very near future”.
He told Sky News: “We’re going to be making announcements in the very near future about a scheme for UK local authorities, and indeed UK families, to welcome Ukrainian refugees, we’ve announced that principle and the details of how that scheme works will be laid out in the very near future.”
A government spokesman said the details of the scheme were being worked on “at pace” and the routes put in place follow “extensive engagement with Ukrainian partners”.
“This is a rapidly moving and complex picture and as the situation develops we will continue to keep our support under constant review,” he added.
Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that from Tuesday those trying to get from Ukraine to the UK who hold a national passport will be able to complete the whole application process online and will no longer have to go to a processing centre.
It followed criticism that the UK’s response has been painfully slow in the face of the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War with around 2.2 million having fled the country.
However, the British Red Cross said the quickest way of fixing the problem would be to remove the requirement for a visa, while the Refugee Council said Ms Patel’s announcement “does not go anywhere near far enough”.
The routes we have put in place follow extensive engagement with Ukrainian partners,” the spokesman said.
“This is a rapidly moving and complex picture and as the situation develops we will continue to keep our support under constant review.”
The move comes after Home Secretary Priti Patel was urged to do more to make it easier for those coming to the UK through the existing family route.
On Thursday, Ms Patel announced that from Tuesday people will be able to apply online for a visa and will no longer have to go to a processing centre to give their biometrics.
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